Årsjögård

About the museum

Årsunda Viking was started in 1993 by Sandviken Municipality as a labour market measure. The Viking theme was chosen because Årsunda has many ancient monuments from the Viking Age and the rest of the Iron Age. The project was based on a full-scale reconstruction of a Viking Age farm at Brudberget, care of the ancient monument environment, and a Viking museum in the village, which was inaugurated in 1998 but closed in 2003.

Construction of the Viking farm began in 1996. Today there is, among other things, a longhouse, a forge, a cooking house, a food store, a cowshed, storehouses, a cult site, runestones and an area for play and games. The pride of the farm is the longhouse, with a dwelling section and a hall and a shingle roof of around 20,000 pine shingles, and walls of woven wattle daubed with clay. The hall can hold about 60 people for a party. In central Årsunda lies the Sörby burial ground, the largest Viking Age burial ground in Gästrikland, with around 90 preserved graves.

Since July 2003 the site has been run by the volunteer Viking association Fafner, while Sandviken Municipality still owns it. During opening hours visitors meet Vikings who demonstrate crafts and games and tell about life on the farm in the 10th century. The association also welcomes school classes and groups and has worked a great deal to improve accessibility.

Highlights

• Longhouse with a shingle roof and feast hall
• Forge and iron-smelting site
• Runestones and the cult site
• Living Viking farm with demonstrations of crafts and games
• School programmes and guided tours

Permanent exhibition

• Vikingagården Årsjögård – Reconstructed 10th-century Viking farm with a longhouse, a forge, a cooking house, runestones and an iron-smelting site, where Vikings tell about life on the farm.

Founded

1996

Operated by

Vikingaföreningen Fafner (ägare: Sandvikens kommun)

Admission & discounts

Prices vary with the opening times. During the weeks with the living Viking farm (summer 2026) admission was SEK 120 for adults and SEK 80 for children up to 15 years of age and pensioners; during the guided-tour week it was SEK 90 and SEK 70 respectively. On special occasions admission may be free or by voluntary donation. Guided tours for groups cost SEK 120 for adults and SEK 80 for children up to 17 years of age, at least SEK 1,200 per group on weekday daytimes and SEK 1,500 in the evenings and at weekends.

Accessibility

• Partially wheelchair accessible
• Elevator: no information
• Accessible restroom
• Accessible parking: no information
• Service dogs welcome
• Tactile models & exhibits: no information
• Sign language tours: no information
• Easy-to-read materials: no information
• Audio description: no information

The entrance building is adapted for wheelchairs, and a gravel access road runs up to the farm. On the farm there are simpler level paths between most of the buildings, but they can be uneven in places. The longhouse can be entered by wheelchair and pushchair, but not all buildings can, for example not the food store on posts or the loft in the crafts house. At the entrance building there is an accessible toilet, and up on the farm there are two toilets, one of which is accessible. Staff are happy to help. Dogs are allowed on a lead.

Kids & families

Great for kids & families

• Family tours & workshops
• Hands-on stations
• Baby changing facilities: not available
• Playground / play area

Vikings demonstrate crafts and games, and during the openings visitors can try archery. School programmes are offered. There is no changing table, but staff will set up a surface and warm baby food if needed. The gravel and paths on the farm are partly passable with a pushchair.

Getting there & parking

Årsunda lies in Gästrikland on county road 272 (Tidernas väg), about 15 minutes from Sandviken, 40 minutes from Gävle and about an hour from Falun and Uppsala.

Amenities & dining

• Museum shop

A small shop with crafts and souvenirs in the entrance building during the summer opening. Simple food is sold at the cooking house on some opening days. Your own food may be brought, and there is a grill in the fire house. Two modern toilets are at the entrance building. There is no cash machine on the site.

Events & venue rental

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

Plan your visit